Belgian Dark Strong Ale Dark Strong Belgian (Chimay Blue)

[rjb84]

I'm brewing this one today. It's storming like crazy in GA, so this should be fun. This will be the 4th time I brew this one and I've found that adding dry champagne yeast a few days before bottling adds a little extra character to it. Aging is very necessary with or without the champagne yeast though!!!

 

[Manzier]

I brewed this one a fortnight ago. I made a few adjustments which were removing the chocolate malt and colour adjusted with candi sugar (which after tasting directly side by side chimay I regret). I had 4-days primary fermentation at around 25-degrees then straight into the bottle which I think is how it should be done to reduce huge conditioning times (instead of waiting for the yeast to go dormant and then priming). I cracked a bottle yesterday and did a side by side comparison and it tastes great. I got the carbonation wrong as it is fizzy but nowhere near a Chimay. It's missing some dark cherry flavors (probably from the missing chocolate malt) but it is insanely good. This is now my go to Belgian strong recipe. I would even go as far as saying that it tastes better then the store bought Chimay. I'd definitely recommend trying this brew. Well done to OP for figuring this one out.

I've attached a photo, with the right being a real Chimay and the left being my one.

Mash 27L Batch
6.50 kg Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (3.9 EBC) Grain 4 66.7 %
0.50 kg Abby Malt (43.3 EBC) Grain 5 5.1 %
0.50 kg Caramunich Malt (90.0 EBC) Grain 6 5.1 %
0.50 kg Wheat Malt, Bel (3.9 EBC) Grain 7 5.1 %
0.40 kg Special B (300.0 EBC) Grain 8 4.1 %
0.25 kg Aromatic Malt (50.0 EBC) Grain 9 2.6 %

Boil Ingredients
50.00 g Hallertauer [4.80 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 10 16.6 IBUs
0.60 kg Candi Sugar, Clear (1.0 EBC) Sugar 11 6.2 %
0.50 kg Candi Sugar, Amber (157.0 EBC) Sugar 12 5.1 %
20.00 g Hallertauer [4.80 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 13 4.6 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 14 -
0.20 tsp Seeds of Paradise (Boil 10.0 mins) Spice 15 -
0.50 tsp Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 16 -

 

[redbone]

I'm back on my kick of wanting to brew something in the realm of Chimay blue again.

Of all the poeple that have brewed the recipe in this thread, what are your tasting notes and differences between it and Chimay Blue?


Do Trappist Monks use things like seeds of paradise or orange peel? I wouldn't think so, but don't know for certain.


I'd love to hear tasting notes and of other recipes that have been on target to Chimay Blue.

 

[FARoad]

This thread looks dead....but for anyone stumbling upon it I thought it would be worth noting that this brew is exceptionally sweet. FG was 1.010 so it's not residual sugar. Granted this is a taste test after a month, hoping the sweetness fades by Thanksgiving or it will be an after dinner drink.

 

[jturman35]

Brewing this tomorrow !

How much does the Belgium candy sugar affect the overall flavor? LHBS only had Premium Amber candi syrup which is 45 SRM. Contents: beet sugar, water.

View attachment 564178

 

[FARoad]

Follow up to earlier post - After aging for 5 months it was great, not sweet at all. I would add more chocolate to adjust color and maybe double the last addition of seeds of paradise. It's a keeper.

 

[jturman35]

I had one that was 7 years old last Sunday. It was pretty smooth!

Any idea what water profile is best for this recipe? I’m using distilled and building it up using Bru’n water